Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal
The University of Memphis bench celebrates near the end of the Tigers' 93-71 victory over UCF on Wednesday at FedExForum. It was the 15th straight win for the 22nd-ranked U of M.

Last January, when Geron Johnson was one of the nation's top junior college prospects, he opined that if he signed with the University of Memphis, he and Tigers junior Joe Jackson would make for one special backcourt.

"One of the best in the country," said Johnson, who four months later signed with the Tigers.

Now, a little more than a year later, Johnson's starting to look like a prophet, as he and Jackson combined for 40 points and 18 assists to lead the No. 22-ranked Tigers past Central Florida, 93-71, Wednesday before an announced 16,554 at FedExForum.

It was the Tigers' 15th straight win, and for the third time in the last four games it came by double digits with Johnson and Jackson combining to go 17 of 24 from the floor.

But rather than refer to themselves as the Tigers' dynamic duo afterward, both Johnson and Jackson pointed out they hadn't been alone in helping Memphis rout a UCF team that came into Wednesday just two games in back of the Tigers (21-3, 10-0 in Conference USA) in second place in the C-USA standings.

"(Johnson's) a complement. Him and (junior guard) Chris (Crawford), because Chris can shoot and (Johnson) can attack," Jackson said. "It's a great combination and it's coming together at the right time of the year."

And it's with that sort of unselfishness that Memphis has played of late. After registering a then-season-high 27 assists in a 13-point win at Southern Miss on Saturday, the Tigers followed it up by tallying a season-high 28 assists on 38 baskets Wednesday.

Jackson's 21 points led five Tigers in double figures, and Memphis used a 21-1 run in the second half to suffocate UCF (17-7, 7-3).

There was a time this season when the Tigers were allowing teams to hang around and make games close rather than putting them away. Now they've crushed C-USA's top two teams not named Memphis in two straight games, proving perhaps they do belong among the nation's top-ranked squads.

"It's a great feeling when we're playing with a lot of energy and everyone is smiling and everybody's just having a good time," said Crawford, who was cheering on his walk-on teammates down the stretch after contributing 10 points and four assists. "This is what basketball is about, having fun and enjoying it with your teammates.

"Not in an arrogant or conceited way, but we definitely can beat anybody in the country as long as we're playing together. It's definitely the chemistry. We're playing like coach (Josh) Pastner always said, 'The open man is the go-to man.' We're very unselfish, and when we're playing like that, we're very unstoppable."

Pastner says they can be even better, though there was little to criticize about Wednesday's win. Memphis shot 58.5 percent for the game, scored 30 points off 18 UCF turnovers and manhandled the Knights on the glass, 40-22.

Though the Tigers did allow UCF to make five first-half 3-pointers and pull to six (42-36) by halftime, they used a lineup of Jackson, Johnson, Crawford, sophomore Adonis Thomas (17 points, four rebounds) and junior Tarik Black (eight points) to take command of the game in the second half.

UCF cut Memphis' lead to eight points on a Kasey Wilson 3-pointer with 13:49 left in the second half. Then the Tigers poured it on, and it started innocently enough with Black splitting a pair of free throws. On the other end, Black forced a five-second call against UCF big man and C-USA Preseason Player of the Year Keith Clanton, whom the Tigers held to 10 points on 3 of 10 shooting. Then Crawford buried two straight 3-pointers. Then Johnson hit another. Then Jackson converted a layup after a Johnson rebound and a Crawford assist. By the time UCF finally stopped the run Memphis led 78-50.

Rim gems

Tigers senior forward D.J. Stephens had three vicious dunks that pushed his career total to 101. Stephens finished with 10 points and eight boards, and, as usual, he was the spark for Memphis early with his high-flying acrobatics. His putback dunk of a missed Crawford 3-pointer gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 13-12. But it was high rim-rattling jam at the 10:14 mark of the first half that simply stupefied the crowd. Stephens took an assist from Crawford after a Black steal and assaulted the rim with two hands, swinging on it before coming down after giving Memphis a 19-14 lead.

Who's hot? Who's not?

Jackson, who had gone three straight games without scoring in double figures, went 10 of 12 from the field. It doesn't get much hotter than that. But Johnson's statistical lines the last two or three games have been nothing short of outstanding. On Wednesday, he contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Against Southern Miss last Saturday, he had a career-high 25 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. If he keeps putting up these sorts of numbers, Johnson won't be back next season. He'll be in the NBA. As for who wasn't hot, you had to go to the UCF side. Clanton was rendered ineffective and junior forward Isaiah Sykes, the lone player in the country this season to have two triple-doubles, had 17 points and six rebounds, but turned the ball over nine times.

Locker room chatter

"I said it before and I'm gonna say it again: We're one of the best backcourts in the country. Now that I know more about Chris Crawford and Adonis, it's just adding pieces to the puzzle." — Johnson on his statement 13 months ago about he and Jackson potentially being one of the nation's top backcourts.

Odds and ends

The victory was career win No. 96 for Pastner, who with seven games left in the regular season is already the winningest coach in Memphis history over his first four years. Former Tigers coach John Calipari, the only other Memphis coach to put together four straight 20-win seasons over his first four years on the job, totaled 93 wins over his first four seasons. Larry Finch tallied 85 and Gene Bartow 82 over their first four seasons. ... Memphis' 15-game winning streak is the second-longest in the nation behind Akron, which has won 16 straight.

By the numbers

9: Johnson's team- and career-high number of rebounds. He's grabbed 24 over the last three games.

11: UCF's number of assists. Memphis nearly tripled it with season-high 28.